BBC’s Muslim ‘reverts’ was a dangerous blunder – Anglican Mainstream


by James Price, UnHerd

I think it’s fair to say the BBC has not had a good week — or indeed, month. In late February, the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone was pulled after it was revealed that the 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. Yesterday, it was reported that a BBC Arabic journalist had described Israelis as worse than “beasts” and called Jews “devils” after 7 October. What’s more, the Beeb has been accused of spreading “Islamist propaganda” as one of its writers repeatedly referred to Muslim converts as “reverts”, an Islamic assumption that being Muslim is everyone’s natural state.

While worrying, this is perhaps unsurprising. The past month or so has seen Lent coincide with Ramadan. The standard Ramadan lights have filled central London and everyone, from His Majesty the King to the Prime Minister, has written gushing posts about it, while seeming to ignore the Christian period of Lent almost entirely.

Of course, Britons should be free to believe whatever they want about the metaphysics of reality and God, free to assess for themselves what merit lies in the religious doctrines of the Resurrection of Christ or the revelations of Mohammad. But the distinctly “astroturf” feel of the promotions of many of the Iftars and Eid celebrations this year have helped create an entirely uncritical “hype” around Islam as this year’s chic trend. The consequences for many, including the millions of moderate British Muslims, could be wide-ranging.

Take Charlotte Gill’s list of what she refers to as “hijab propaganda”. While there is a debate to be had as to whether the examples she documents are actually propaganda, it is true that her examples show a political tendency to gloss over a complicated discussion around a much-debated religious garment, which many — such as dissident Iranian women — view as oppressive and misogynistic.

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